Butt gauge for correct fitting of hinges on doors and jambs



Jan. 10, 1956 c. 1. BACKSTROM BUTT GAUGE FOR CORRECT FITTING OF HINGES 0N DOORS AND JAMES Filed Aug. 6, 1952 United States Patent BUTT GAUGE FOR CORRECT FITTING OF HINGES ON DOORS AND JAMBS This invention relates to a butt gauge and more particularly to a marker and butt gauge used together for the purpose of correctly fitting hinges on doors and jarnbs.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a butt gauge which whenused consecutively will accurately and readily mark off the portions of the door and jamb which when out out will provide recesses for the conventional door hinges.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a butt gauge which when properly aligned with the markings of the door marker will permit the scribing of the portions of the door and jamb which when out out will provide recesses for the conventional door hinges.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a butt gauge which presents alternate sides adapted to readily and quickly scribe alternately a door and jamb in an arcuate, complementary manner.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a butt gauge adapted to be alternately positioned upon a door and a door jamb therefore to scribe hinge recesses in an accurate and complementary manner.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a butt gauge for the correct fitting of hinges on doors and jambs which are of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to operate, compact and efficient in operation.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a marker;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a butt gauge;

Fig. 3 shows the application of the marker to scribe a mark on a door and jamb;

Figure 4 shows application of the butt gauge to a door; and

Fig. 5 shows application of the butt gauge to a door jamb.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 and 3 and in. the practice of my invention there is shown a marker, referred to collectively as 10, consisting of two legs 11 and 12 releasably secured at their ends in an overlap position by means of a screw 13 passing through aligned holes and a nut 14 having upwardly extending, manually engageable ears 15. By manual tightening of the nut 14, the legs 11 and 12 will be secured in the position relative to each other shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Upon loosening of the nut 14, the leg 11 may be rotated downwardly to the dotted line position of Fig. l and secured in this position by again tightening the nut, whereby to provide a compact, portable unit.

The legs 11 and 12 are each provided with longitudinal slots 16 and 17 which extend from points spaced inwardly from the outer ends of the legs to points spaced inwardly from the screw 13 and adapted to receive screws 18 and 19 for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

The leg 11 is formed at its end remote from the screw 13 with an integral triangular flange 20 at substantially right angles thereto and for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

The leg 12 is formed at its end remote from the screw 13 with an integral inwardly and downwardly bent portion 21 having a hole 22 adapted to engage a nail or the like upon a wall for conveniently hanging the marker up when not in use.

A pair of L-shaped brackets 23 and 24 having triangular flanges 25 and 26 are releasably and adjustably secured within the slots 16 and 17 by means of screws 18 and 19 and nuts 27 and 28, as clearly shown in Fig. l. The converging edges of the triangular portions 25 and 26 are sharpened for a purpose to be hereinafter described. It is obvious that by loosening the nuts 27 and 23 that the brackets may be longitudinally moved and set at various positions.

In operation, the marker is applied to door and jamb as shown in Fig. 3 with the triangular flange 20 sliding between the bottom edge of the door 29 and the jamb 30, and the points of the triangular flanges 25 and 26 entering the slight vertical space between door and jamb. Upon pressing the marker against the door and jamb while in the foregoing position, the sharpened edges of the triangular flanges will simultaneously scribe both door and jamb with aligned, horizontal marking 31 for a purpose to be hereinafter described. It is obvious that the door marker may also be inverted and similarly inserted with the triangular flange 20 sliding between the top edge of the door 29 and the jamb 30 to scribe another line 31 for the same purpose.

Referring now in detail to Figs. 2, 4 and 5 and in the further practice of my invention, there is shown a butt gauge 32 consisting of a smooth, flat, rectangular body 33 provided along one longitudinal side edge with an upstanding integrally formed, rectangular ridge 34 and on the opposite side of the body 33 along the same longitudinal edge with a second upstanding, integrally formed, rectangular ridge 35 of lesser width than the ridge 34. The ridges 34 and 35 are squared with the smooth surface of the body 33 so as to present sharp, right angle corners and to permit the coinciding of the butt gauge with the right angle edges of the door 29 when in the position shown in Fig. 4. In this position, the ridge 34 coincides with the front surface of the door 29 while the body 33 on one side thereof coincides with a vertical edge of the door, thus permitting the scribing of a rectangular mark upon the vertical door edge by tracing the three edges of the body 33 removed from the ridges 35 and 34 and the scribing 'of a second aligned rectangular mark upon the front surface of the door by tracing the three edges of the ridge 34 coinciding with the door. These rectangular markings are at right angles to each other and define a rectangular, three dimensional recess adapted to receive a door hinge in conventional manner in a highly accurate manner. In the above operation of scribing, it is necessary to align the top inner edge of the ridge 34 with the marking 31 previously referred to. The butt gauge 32 may be similarly used to scribe a second rectangular, three dimensional recess at the lower portion of the door adapted to receive a second hinge in the same manner.

Referring now to Fig. 5, the butt gauge is shown applied to the door jamb with the opposite face of the body 33 now in contact with the vertical edge 36 of the door jamb and the ridge 35 coinciding with the front surface 37 of the door jamb, thus permitting the scribing of a rectangular mark upon the vertical jamb edge by tracing the three sides of the body 33 remote from the ridges 34 and 35 and the scribing of a second aligned rectangular mark upon the front surface of the jamb operation of scribing, it is again necessary to align the top inner edge of the ridge 35 with the marking 31 previously referred to. The butt gauge 32 may be similarly used to scribe a second rectangular, three dimensional recess adapted to receive a second hinge at the bottom of the door jamb.

It should be obvious that the dimensions of the butt gauge may be controlled so as to yield rectangular markings of any desired length and width and depth, and particularly so as to conform with various standard hinges and I'do not wish to limit myself to any particular set of dimensions. It should also be obvious that one face of the 'body 33 is designed to coincide with the door while the other face is designed to coincide with the jamb, due to the different widths of the ridges 34 and 35, so as to produce the proper space between the final aligned recesses. Should the same face be used for the jamb as is used for the door, the vertical inner edge of the door would be fiush with the jamb after application of the hinges, instead of being slightly spaced therefrom. It should also be obvious that the longitudinal positions of the brackets 25 and 26 may be varied to conform with requirements of the trade.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided a marker and butt gauge which when used consecutively will accurately and readily mark off the portions of the door and jamb which when cut out will provide recesses for door hinges. It should also be apparent that there has been provided a marker which when properly positioned upon a door resting within a door jamb will simultaneously mark off both door and jamb in aligned markings at a fixed distance from the top and bottom of the door and jamb and which will automatically be positioned upon the door and jamb andwhich may further be readily adjusted to simultaneously mark off the door and jamb at various selected distances from the top and bottom of the door and jamb.

It should also be apparent that there has been provided a butt gauge which when properly aligned with the markings of the door marker will permit the scribing of the portions of the door and jamb which when out out will provide recesses for the conventional door hinges and which presents alternate sides adapted to readily and quickly scribe alternately a door and jamb in an accurate, complementary manner.

While various changes may be made in the detailed construction, itshall be understood that such changes shall be within the spiritand scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of my invention, what is claimed is:

A butt gauge for scribing doors and jambs comprising a smooth, fiat body of rectangular cross section, an integrally formed rectangular ridge'located along one longitudinal edge of said body at one side thereof and extending perpendicularly thereto, and a second integrally formed rectangular ridge located along the same longitudinal edge of said body at the other side thereof and extending perpendicularly thereto, said second ridge being of a lesser thickness than said first ridge, said ridges being squared with the smooth surface of said body whereby to provide sharp, right angular corners therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 700,023 Duby .1 May 13, 1902 753,120 Butterworth Feb. 23, 1904 1,101,516 Ahlvin June 30,1914 1,155,715 Faust Oct. 5, 1915 1,264,371 Crossley Apr. 30, 1918 1,333,996 Rose Mar. 16, 1920 1,336,157 Read Apr. 6, 1920 1,369,038 Maconnell Feb. 22, 1921 1,611,357 Markword Dec. 21, 1926 

